Lucas Craston was fighting the good fight long before he knew he would ever become a fighter … and a champion fighter at that.

The evidence is scattered throughout his 16 active years.

First, there were, and still are, those spur-of-the-moment, put-your-dukes-up boxing matches in the house that Craston would have with his older brothers Max and Owen. Being the youngest, he didn’t often win in the early years, but he persisted and has had his moments being crowned King of the Kitchen.

There was even one night when the brothers stepped up the competition and put on the headgear and gloves, carefully dancing around the furniture.

Their domestic toe-to-toes often became wrestling scrums. It was even more interesting during the winter, adding the element of snow. At this point, the youngest Craston was learning about competition.

About five summers ago, he was riding his skateboard with some friends in their neighbourhood and discovered Access MMA, which offered boxing lessons on its athletic menu. Craston thought it was a cool idea and the store manager asked him to try it. For two years, the Nepean resident developed his boxing skills, but never had a fight.

Three years ago, Craston took his competitiveness and skills to Ottawa’s premier boxing centre, the Beaver Boxing Club. This is where the fight game came alive for him.

After his first 20 fights, which led to becoming the 2018 Golden Gloves provincial champion, the 2017 Canadian junior silver medallist and the 2016 Ontario Summer Games (fighting debut) gold medallist, Craston has set his medal sights on the men’s 60-kilogram competition at the Canada Winter Games, which run Feb. 15 to March 3 in Red Deer, Alba.

A Grade 11 student at St. Pius X High School, Craston will be one of 49 athletes from the National Capital region, who will represent Ontario or Quebec at the two-week Games, which will feature the country’s next wave of high-performance athletes.

“Of course, I want to win a medal. That’s the end goal,” said a confident Craston, who travels 90 minutes by bus to reach the Beaver club on Spruce Street in Ottawa’s Little Italy neighbourhood. “It’s a national competition and it’s one of my first (nationals).

“But if I don’t win, it will be a big learning experience and a chance to grow. Winning is the game plan, but it’s not the be all and end all. If I don’t win, it won’t overwhelm me.”

But if he does go undefeated during boxing’s return to the Games (absent in 2015), he will become the second Beaver boxer, after Samir Louati at the 2003 Games, to win Canada Winter Games gold.

While Beaver coaches John Edwards and Jill Perry prepare Craston for his first Canada Games, he’s not too concerned about his opponents.

“I have to focus on what I do best,” explained Craston, who qualified to represent Ontario at the Games by winning two bouts at the provincial Golden Gloves. “Hopefully, that’s enough.

“The thing I can work on is my first round, maybe have a stronger start, win the first round and try not to get hit.”

Craston, a relaxed and methodical fighter who trains six times a week whether in the ring or running, is known to start slow and figure out his opponent in the first round. But by the third round, he’s almost untouchable. His fights are scheduled for three, three-minute rounds.

“He’s intelligent and is able to pace himself. He comes into his fights with a good work ethic,” said Edwards, the club’s youth coach. “He might start slow, but he finishes strong. He has the ability to manage himself.”

Beaver coach and president Jill Perry has seen a resurgence of youth boxing in the past three years. There are more than 60 young fighters in the club and of the 30 to keep on eye on, Craston is among the leaders.

“In December, we went to the Golden Gloves (Ontario championships) in Niagara Falls,” Perry said. “As we were driving in, he looked over at me and said: ‘You know, Jill, without boxing I would never be doing something like this.

“It was such an honest comment. He was thrilled to go to Niagara Falls. It speaks to the value of kids in sport and what it brings them.”

And now he’ll be flying across the country to Red Deer not only to represent his province, club and himself, but also to make his brothers proud.

“I used to say to Lucas, ‘how did you feel about your fight?’” Edwards said. “All he cared about was that his brothers think he did a good job.”

Here’s a snapshot of several other regional athletes with potential to excel at the Games:

— Multi-talented Brandt Clarke of Ottawa is the consensus top defenceman and ranked No. 2 mid-season for the 2019 OHL draft. He is one of five Don Mills Flyers’ minor-midget players (including four ranked in the OHL draft’s top six) on the Ontario boys’ hockey team. He is following the example of his older brother Graeme, a forward for the Ottawa 67’s, and has scored more than 100 points for the undefeated Flyers (30-0-3) this season. He scored the tying goal for his team in the 10th GTHL Top Prospects game.

— Synchro swimming has been renamed, thanks to a decision by world-governing body FINA in July, 2017. The sport that gave Canada Olympic gold medallists Carolyn Waldo and Sylvie Frechette is now called artistic swimming and GO Capital Synchro members Emma Fox and Jade Warren will be in the pool for Ontario. They helped Ontario win the team gold medal at the 2018 Pan American championships. Gatineau’s Mikaelle Gauthier, who swims for Dollard Synchro, will represent Quebec.

— Lily Weidemann of the Gloucester Concordes Speed Skating Club finished second overall at the Ontario long-track qualifying meet for the Games. She also set personal-best times for the 500, 1,000, 1,500 and 3,000 metres in a span of three days in early January in Calgary. She is the younger sister of 2018 Winter Olympian Isabelle, the 2018 female athlete of the year at last week’s Ottawa Sports Award Dinner.

— Nepean Junior Wildcats’ forward Maddi Wheeler of Erinsville, ON., and CEGEP Limoilou Titans’ goalkeeper Mahika Sarrazin of Val-des-Monts, Que., and Gatineau-born Ann-Frederik Naud of Joliette, Que., will play in opposite pools for their respective Ontario and Quebec teams, after they helped Canada win the gold medal at the IIHF world women’s U18 hockey championship.

— Antoine Cyr of Gatineau enters the Games having represented Canada at the world U23 nordic ski championships in Lahti, Finland. His best result was a 20th in the men’s sprint.

— Aylmer Archers’ Alexandra Paquette, who won the women’s compound silver medal at the 2017 world cadet archery championships in Rosario, Argentina, owns 14 Canadian records spread through the cadet, junior and senior age divisions.

CAPITAL SPORTS HUB

GOLDEN GIRL

Beaver Boxing Club’s Emelia Dermott of Oakville scored a pair of decisive victories to win the youth 51-kilogram gold medal at The Golden Girl boxing tournament in Boras, Sweden. Dermott defeated Jeyssa Marcel of France 4-1 and Ambrine Zitouni of France 5-0 in the largest women’s boxing competition in the world.

WOODS THIRD DOWN UNDER

After placing seventh overall at the Santos Tour Down Under in Adelaide, Australia, Michael Woods of EF Education First Cycling rebounded with a strong effort at the five-stage Herald Sun Tour in Victoria, Australia. He won the second stage, led the general classification standings for two days, and finished third overall.

LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON

Strong run and cross-country ski performances allowed Robert Graham of Ottawa to win the Winterlude Triathlon in one hour, one minute and 54.8 seconds. His father Brian is a past winner, making them the first father and son champions. Ottawa’s Katherine Maine, a professional cyclist with Rally UHC Cycling, was the women’s winner and ninth overall in 1:07.54.1.

SAVILL COMES SHORT

Craig Savill’s bid for a run at the 2019 Canadian and world men’s curling championships ended at the Ontario Tankard men’s final, when John Epping’s Leaside rink succumbed 8-2 after six ends to undefeated Scott McDonald of Kingston. Savill, who lives in Manotick, played lead for Epping, which was the round-robin runner-up at 7-2 and 8-4 overall.

ROWING AWAY

Ottawa Rowing Club’s Marko Youngson won two medals at the Canadian indoor rowing championships in Mississauga, earning silver in the junior men’s 1,000-metre team event with Dave Johnson, Declan McCoy and Matthew Lokhonia and bronze in the junior men’s novice 1,000 metres. Other medal performances came from Julia Fournier, women’s 50-plus, first; Madeleine Lauriault, junior women’s novice, first; the junior women’s team of Rachel Weber, Mackenzie Mihorean, Lauren Blume and Zella James, second; and Andrew Pelletier, open men’s, third. Hunter Amesbury of Carleton University was third in the men’s U23 class.

BRIEFLY

Two-time Olympian Nicholas Tritton of Hood, ON., which is near Perth, was recently inducted into the Quebec Judo Hall of Fame … Katherine Stewart-Jones of Chelsea has been named to the Canadian team for the world nordic ski championships in Seefeld, Austria, Feb. 19 to March 3, after winning the women’s classic-style race at the national trials.

2019 CANADA WINTER GAMES

Ontario and Quebec have historically posted strong teams for the Games, which are considered stepping stones to the Olympics and Paralympics. The opening ceremony is Feb. 15 and the closing ceremony is March 3.

Here are the 49 athletes from Ottawa, Gatineau and area representing their respective provincial teams of Ontario and Quebec:

This Week's Flyers

Comments

We encourage all readers to share their views on our articles and blog posts. We are committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion, so we ask you to avoid personal attacks, and please keep your comments relevant and respectful. If you encounter a comment that is abusive, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box to report spam or abuse. We are using Facebook commenting. Visit our FAQ page for more information.